The 80th Anniversary
by burningeyes-star
Summary: After Prims tragic accident, Katniss gave up the fight and the rebellion ended, leaving eleven districts. The quells have been changed from every 25, to every 5 years, and being they didn't have a 76th hunger games, the next quell will be on the 81st hunger games.
1. Chapter 1

There was once a place called North America. But droughts and fires, hurricanes and tornadoes, and encroaching seas took their toll. Wars broke out as people fought for the few remaining resources. The earth was scarred and desolate, the people terrified and hopeless…" droned the overly loud Callista Harkens, District Seven's escort. "But out of the ashes arose Panem, a nation made up of a great capitol ringed by thirteen districts…" Callista, who always seems to wear a different shade of green every year, is nearly sixty years old and seems to be wilting like the green leaves at the end of spring. District Seven is the lumber district filled with lush trees that supply the other ten districts with their wood and paper. As the seasons change, along with the trees surrounding us, so does District Sevens' inhabitants. The people themselves are trees; growing older every year, becoming old enough to have deep wrinkles a gift, eventually getting "chopped down" to fuel the capitols' needs.

Jerrissa Hann, one of my classmates, leans over "Miney. Miney! May the odds…" she says in a whisper, mocking the capitol accent. Even though it's very childish and terrible timing,

"Be _ever_ in your favor." I reply with the same twang, but with a flat tone. Her flaming orange hair bounces as she turns back with a giggle and a smile. _Typical Jerrissa… _My primary school friends' optimistic attitude

The regular movie on Panems' past finishes playing and Callistas' voice rings out to even the far reaches of the crowd. Today is the reaping, the day a male and female tribute get selected to fight to the death in a blood hungry battle called the Hunger Games. I glance over on the boys' side to catch a glimpse of my true best friend, Pifo Farnson. His strawberry blonde hair hangs in front of the young fifteen year olds eyes as he glances around, evidently from fear.

"That was my favorite part! Ok, let's get on with the reaping. As usual, I like to do things in reverse! The young men first." Callista sticks her hand into the circular glass bowl that holds the names of the boys. "Here it comes!" anxiously exclaims Callista while unfolding the paper. "The District Seven male tribute is- Daniel Starm!" you can hear the crowd silently gasping in astonishment. Daniel Starm is the mayors' son, and this is a rare sight to behold. "Come on up here, Daniel." Urges Callista. At first, no one moves but then the men part, and Daniel slowly makes his way up to the podium with a _nearly-on-the-verge-of-crying_ look on his face. Daniels light, sandy blonde hair sticks out in the sea of dark brunettes and redheads. He has the body of a lumberjack even if he doesn't have to work. I've seen him workout so it's not surprising his broad and tall six-foot-three build is well muscled looking under his tight fitting shirt polo, and his arms- _Wait, what am I thinking?_ I remind myself and shiver at the strange feeling, dismissing it immediately and turning back to the reaping. I want to pity him, but if that were me, I would hate to be looked upon with sorrow. I am too strong, too immersed in what happened when I was young, to even stand being viewed like that. You can only just imagine that feeling.

"Now for young girls" says the exhilarated Callista. For the past four years, I have had luck on my side. There are a thousand other girls that have gotten the teresa. The teresa is where a child eligible for the reaping can volunteer to have their name put in the bowl one more time for every family member they have, and in return, the get increased grain portions. I haven't had to take one yet, because I have no family. As far as I know and want, my mother died in child birth and my father abandoned her. I was forced into terrible foster homes where child labor was enforced strictly and you were otherwise beaten. They had to move me around because I was always causing trouble by fighting back the abuse or just running away after things got too rough. Eventually I had escaped the cycle when I was ten and live on my own and fend for myself. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I hunt deer, occasionally caribou during winter, fox, and mainly wild dogs. I live in a tree, but like all the other citizens of seven, I also have a horse. But instead of the bulky draft horses needed to haul huge logs back to the mill through any terrain, my wild stallion Calliope is fast and agile but with the durability shared by all Sevens' horses. Calliope, meaning muse, was named after the peace keeper who gave him to me when he was just a foal six years ago. Lio, for short, is my muse in more than one way; my prime model to sketch, and my inspiration to live. It's good to know that there is something out there that needs you to live.

After the tension has died down to an awkward silence, Callistas hand moves slow and dramatically to pick a teen girls fate. "The female tribute for District Seven is- Minerva Tearth!" At first I don't recognize my name, I haven't been called Minerva since I was ten and last in the Peacekeepers office. I step forward, pure hatred and rage for whoever is making my life hell registers on my face for all to see. I stair strait ahead, knowing this will be re-televised for the other tributes to pick us apart by our reaction. As I come to a halt next to Daniel, I steal a glance. Is that admiration on his face? He was too fast to turn his head away for me to tell. I gaze across the crowd and stop at Pifo. He looks more terrified than- I'm hoping- I do.

"Congratulations, Minerva Tearth and Daniel Starm! The District Sevens' eightieth Hunger Games tributes!" nobody applauds. I never knew silence could be quite this loud. Thankfully the cry of a baby breaks the quietness and we are ushered off into The Hall of Justice to say our final goodbyes.

I had never been to the Justice Building, let alone inside. The carpets, the furniture, all beautifully handcrafted in district one. They sent Daniel and me into separate rooms. I was about to open the door when Pifo bursts in, tears streaming down his face. I half-heartedly took him into my arms and sat down on the fur couch. "Miney, you can't go in there! You can't!" the quirky redhead exclaimed.

"Pifo, I have no choice, you know that." I said trying to keep my voice steady

"Get a sword or something, something you can survive with!" he said, finally drying his face of tears.

"Time to go." Said the peacekeeper as he approached. Grasping Pifo's arm, I mutter

"I will try to come home. Take care of Calliope!" The peacekeeper whisks him away as he begins to cry again. No one else comes to visit me. After about five minutes, Callista comes to get me with Daniel at her side. His eyes have obviously been rubbed red from tears. We exited the hall of justice and made our way to the train stop. The train parked there is certainly not the old transport trains we use to ship lumber. _That_ train is one of the capitols sleek, new monorails that can supposedly reach 250 miles an hour. As we board, I take one final look at my home. Daniel and I both stand at the door, just staring, remembering all those days where we would fight battles with wooden swords and I would always win. The days before the reaping, when we would hold a faux Hunger Games and our worried mothers and parents would pull us inside for lunch before a peacekeeper saw. We watch the gentle sway of the giant redwood, maple, and Mahogany trees blend in together, a mesmerizing flash of colors like fire, only seen this time of year. Then, slowly the doors close and we lurch into the trip to hell.


	2. Feelings ew

"Come on come on! Let me show you to your rooms!" exclaims Callista, still peppy. She leads us down a hall and into the next car where it was a bare, dark, and small hallway and our escort directed me to one door and Daniel to the other a little farther down the hall. I close the white door behind me and lock it. Right now I just want to be alone. Leaning against the door, I take a deep breath to try to calm my racing heart and mind. Right now, I really wish I had a pencil and piece of paper.

I gasp at the sight I see when I finally open my eyes. The cleanest, neatest, and one of the most beautiful rooms I have ever seen is before me and I forget that this is for me... Everything seems to be a different shade of white and it's starting to make my head hurt… not that it doesn't already. The bed is white, the carpets are white, the walls, everything! The first thing I do is try out the bed. Nothing I've ever felt before. Then I realize there is a second door. I open it to see what lies beyond it. It's a bathroom, this time all shades of green. It reminds me faintly of the leafy canopy back in District Seven. I don't really want to but I try fiddling with the complicated control panel and suffer a shower that nearly burnt the skin off my back.

I towel off and stand in front of the mirror. I notice there is a black block with a print of a hand indented into it. I place my hand there to see what happens and immediately a shock runs up my arm and races to the back of my neck where it tingles my scalp and I whip my hand away from the block, that electric shock, well, shocked me. After muttering a few curses under my breath I notice my hair feels very light and when I look into the mirror it looks dry and windblown- perfectly straight.

I come out of the bathroom in just the towel, very tired and nearly scream out loud when I see none other than Callista sitting on the end of my bed.

"Holy shit, Callista! I locked my door- how did you get in?" She frowns, obviously at my language, and then chuckles inwardly.

"I did the same thing to Mr. Starm. Now come along, it's time for dinner." I swear I catch her licking her lips as she stood and waddled out of the room. I'm surprised her plumpness even fits down the hallway…

I just find a simple green t-shirt and jeans and brush my long light brown hair just to double-check there's no tangles and I let the door open and peer out. There's no light shining from around Daniels door so he must be down there already. I think about whom else will be there. Callista, Daniel, Johanna Mason- even though she's retired- and Casper Louins, another of our mentors. I walk as slow as possible down to the dining car and the doors open surprisingly fast. _Oh great, _I think, _they're all looking at me._ Johanna's' hazel ones, Casper's' old green ones, Callistas pink ones. But my breath hitches when my eyes meet with stormy, dark blue ones, looking at me with expectantly. I feel like I'm about to be swallowed up when I snap out of it, reminding myself that guys would never like me back. _But I've never felt this way befo- shut up. Shut up before thing think something you'll regret…_

I hurry to the final open seat quietly and realize its right next to Daniel. He's looking down at his plate of food and I catch a glance at him then look away again, not wanting to look like a stalker. That awkward eye-contact moment was certainly enough looking at him for the rest of the night.

I'm served all these delicious foods I've never seen before and try not to indulge, but when dessert comes around and chocolate ice-cream is placed in front of me, I make sure to add extra chocolate syrup and whipped cream. Okay, maybe dinner wasn't _so_ bad..


	3. Damn him

HI. Guess what? I'm going to try to update two times a day, because I really want this story to go well beyond the hunger games. Tell me what you guys think about that idea in the reviews

Daniel was the first to finish dinner and promptly left the table after wishing everyone goodnight. Callista tried rambling on about the people she hates but Johanna shut her up with a look like daggers. Nobody talked, nobody questioned, and I'm not sure if I liked that or not. Eventually I got uncomfortable and could barely stifle a yawn so I walked back to my room. When the door opened and I entered I was surprised to see Daniel with his back to me at the dresser and when he turned around I nearly laughed out loud.

"Does this flatter me?" he asked as he held a pink polka dot bra up to his chest. I put a hand up to my mouth and he grinned, obviously feeling accomplished he made me smile let alone laugh. That smile lit up the whole room an-_Stop it._ I shake my head.

"Where did you get that? And what the hell are you doing in here?" I asked and he shrugged.

"Well since we're about to fight to our deaths, I wanted to get to know women lingerie better…" The mayors' son says sarcastically and I smirk.

"That's not lingerie. But if you're interested I'm sure Callista will gladly show you her collection." I say slightly sourly, a little peeved. Daniel made a fake hurt expression and pretended to puke.

"Minerva you-"

"It's Miney." I interrupt quickly. I can't stand it when people call me Minerva. But even more when they call me Minnie.

Daniel looked slightly annoyed but did not give in. Okay, maybe I'm purposely acting bitter towards him but I have all the right to.

"Sorry, _Miney_, you might not want to get on my bad side." He said warningly and I scoff.

"What could you be of value to me in the games?" I ask. "It's not like I'd even want you as an ally." He puts his hands behind his back and begins pacing thoughtfully like some sort of professor.

"Well, I'm strong," I noticed he flexed slightly and couldn't help but look a second time at his well-shaped pecks and biceps. "I'm vigilant and as you can probably tell- a crowd pleaser."

_So he's gonna be cocky about it._ I think and he waits for a response. I walk up to him slowly with a decisive look.

"You seriously think I need strength and vigilance coming from a six-foot-tall guy who sticks out like a sore thumb? Danny boy, I could take you down with one punch so don't even try to get in my way when I have a sword and the only way to get out is to kill." I'm now right at his face and he's looking down at me with a little fear in those blue eyes. _Damn his height_. I'm level with his chin right now and I can see very little peach fuzz. "I'll kick your ass all the way to seven and back if I had to so I warn you do not test me." We stand like that for a second and I notice fear change to something else, something I've never seen before. Like he's trying to take me apart like a machine and figure out how I work.

"I guess I'll see you later then." He says after a few heartbeats then leaves casually. _Asshole._


End file.
